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OBAMA PLANS RALLY SATURDAY AT UMW

September 25, 2008 12:16 am

Democrat Barack Obama rejected Republican John McCain's call yesterday to suspend their presidential campaign to help solve the nation's financial crisis and announced plans to hold a rally in Fredericksburg Saturday.

The 5:15 p.m. appearance at the University of Mary Washington's Ball Circle will be Obama's first campaign stop in the area, and the first joint appearance in Virginia by the Illinois senator and his running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden.

The Obama campaign is billing the event as a "Change We Need" rally. "The pair will lay out their plans to jump start the economy, provide affordable health care to Virginians and bring a responsible end to the Iraq war," the campaign said in a press release announcing the rally.

For security reasons, people attending are asked not to bring bags and to limit personal items. In addition, no signs or banners will be allowed.

The announcement came a few hours after McCain announced that he wants to postpone tomorrow's debate so he can deal with the nation's financial problems. McCain said he would stop all advertising, fundraising and other campaign events to return to Washington and work for a bipartisan solution.

Obama said he would continue with his debate preparations, leaving the question of whether it will be held in doubt.

"It's my belief that this is exactly the time when the American people need to hear from the person who, in approximately 40 days, will be responsible for dealing with this mess," Obama said at a news conference in Clearwater, Fla. "It's going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, McCain's representative in debate negotiations, said McCain will not attend the debate "unless there is an agreement that would provide a solution" to the financial crisis. Graham, R-S.C., told The Associated Press that the agreement would have to be publicly endorsed by Obama, McCain, the White House and congressional leaders, but not necessarily given final passage by the House and Senate.

Asked whether the debate could go forward if McCain doesn't show, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs replied, "My sense is there's going to be a stage, a moderator, an audience and at least one presidential candidate."

Their dueling positions came after the two senators spoke privately, each trying to portray himself as the bipartisan leader at a time of crisis.

But McCain beat Obama to the punch with the first public statement, saying the Bush administration's Wall Street $700 billion bailout proposal seemed headed for defeat and a bipartisan solution was urgently needed. If not, McCain said ominously, credit will dry up, people will no longer be able to buy homes, life savings will be at stake and businesses will not have enough money to pay workers.

"I do not believe that the plan on the table will pass as it currently stands, and we are running out of time," McCain said.

Even as McCain said he was putting the good of the country ahead of politics, his surprise announcement was clearly political. It was an attempt to try to out-maneuver Obama on an issue McCain is trailing on, the economy, as the Democrat gains in polls. He swiftly went before TV cameras minutes after speaking with Obama and before the two campaigns had hammered out a joint statement expressing that Congress act urgently on the bailout.

And while McCain's campaign said he would "suspend" his campaign, it simply will move to Washing-ton knowing the spotlight will remain on him no matter where he is.

At his news conference, Obama repeatedly stressed that he called McCain first to propose that they issue a joint statement in support of a package to help fix the economy as soon as possible. He said McCain called back several hours later, as Obama was leaving a rally in Florida, and agreed to the idea of a statement but also said he wanted to postpone the debate and hold joint meetings in Washington.

--This report includes contributions from staff writer Chelyen Davis and The Associated Press.